Climate Change | Region 8

National Information

Regional Information

Climate Change Activities

In 2007, "climate change" was added to the list of EPA Region 8 priorities, an internal Climate Change Workgroup was established, and a Climate Change Coordinator was hired. Since that time, we have developed a draft Region 8 Climate Change Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan) to demonstrate our continued commitment to this issue. The draft Strategic Plan is available at this time for a 45-day public review and comment period (see below).

The objectives of the Strategic Plan are to:

Assess and plan for the effects of climate change on current and future responsibilities of the regional office.
Identify and implement goals and priority activities that have the highest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Identify and implement goals and priority activities that have the highest potential to increase our capacity to adapt to climate variability.
Support our partners in their response to the challenge of climate change through knowledge building, technical assistance, and partnerships.
Demonstrate the specific accomplishments of the Plan.

The draft Strategic Plan includes activities to reduce greenhouse gases through the following efforts:

We are leading-by-example with our state-of-the-art green building, which has received a gold level of LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for new construction, and is being used as a laboratory for green building design and operating techniques.
We are achieving results through EPA's voluntary partnership programs, including ENERGY STAR®, Natural Gas STAR, WasteWise, the Coal Combustion Products Partnership, Green Venues, and SmartWay, among others.
We are also achieving results through other means, such green building, revitalization, education, technical assistance, and other ongoing program activities.

The Strategic Plan also includes assessment and planning activities that will help us strategically prioritize and measure the success of our efforts, including a suite of regional climate change indicators.

The 45-day public review and comment period is August 22 through October 6, 2008. Please forward your comments, questions, or suggestions to:

farris.laura@epa.gov

The following documents are Adobe PDF files (about PDF files)